


locker room talk

by thehibiscusthief



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Confessions, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Hugs, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, these reporters have no chill, title is bc it takes place in a locker room not bc people are being trumpish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-29 02:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8471854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehibiscusthief/pseuds/thehibiscusthief
Summary: “Yuuri, I… I really like you! Will you go out with me?” Kenjirou cried. Yuuri froze. The reporters surrounding them fell silent, cameras trained on Yuuri’s shocked expression.“Um…” he began. “I can’t, because…” His eyes desperately darted around the room, searching for an acceptable answer. “Because I’m already in a relationship! With someone very special. Um.”Kenjirou’s face fell. “Who is it?” he demanded. His bottom lip was quivering, tears pooling in his eyes.“Viktor,” he blurted. “I’m dating Viktor.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> takes place right before the china competition  
> yuuri is developing so rapidly as a character that this might be a bit behind what canon will show us on wednesday but it is in character as far as we know  
> edit: ok so it turns out i didn't realize which skaters were actually competing in the china competition so its more of a canon divergence than it would have been my bad

Yuuri stepped out of the rink’s stands, entering a hallway packed with people. The China competition was harsh. Phichit and Yurio were definitely the main threats, dueling it out on the ice, but the other competitors weren’t easy to beat. Reporters raced back and forth, intent on getting an interview with a skater or a coach.

He managed to get through most of the chaos when he was suddenly met with a wall of cameras. A blond teenager with a streak of red stood in front of them, nervously quaking.

“What’s going on?” Yuuri asked, pausing. Kenjirou took a step forward, numerous cameramen sending him a thumbs-up.

“Yuuri, I… I really like you! Will you go out with me?” he cried. Yuuri froze. The reporters surrounding them fell silent, cameras trained on Yuuri’s shocked expression.

“Um…” he began. “I can’t, because…” His eyes desperately darted around the room, searching for an acceptable answer. “Because I’m already in a relationship! With someone very special. Um.”

Kenjirou’s face fell. “Who is it?” he demanded. His bottom lip was quivering, tears pooling in his eyes.

Yuuri blanked. Suddenly, he couldn’t recall a single name, a single face. Ice-blue eyes slowly began to swim in his vision, a brilliant smile teasing at the edges of his memory.

“Viktor,” he blurted. “I’m dating Viktor.”

There was a brief moment of absolute stillness as everyone processed what he had said, before the reporters started screaming questions at him over one another. He shrunk back, pressing against the tiled wall. Everywhere he looked, a microphone was shoved in his face, questions assailing his ears. Yuuri couldn’t breathe, couldn’t separate a single voice from the maelstrom assaulting him. He searched for an escape route, a hole through the wall of reporters, but saw nothing but cameras and press cards. Trapped, he did the only thing he could do:

Yuuri fainted.

)|(

Faint voices teased at Yuuri, pulling him towards consciousness.

“...gave him a shock. It’s a miracle he lasted as long as he did.”

“Still, if he can’t handle reporters, he’s got a long way to go.”

His eyelids fluttered, letting in a brief flash of harsh fluorescent light. The voices stopped immediately, letting one come through.

“Yuuri? Yuuri, are you awake?” it asked. A hand gently shook his shoulder.

Yuuri opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he could make out a silvery outline with two ice-blue blobs in the middle.

“Oh, you’ll want your glasses, of course,” it said. It pulled back, and soon his glasses were gently slid onto his nose. He blinked.

“Viktor?” he said, pulling himself up to sit. He was on a bench in the skaters' locker room. “What...what happened?”

The silvery blob came into his vision again, resolving itself into the familiar visage of his coach. “How much do you remember?”

Images flashed past. A crowd, a tearful confession, microphones surrounding him, and desperate answer…

“Shit,” he breathed. “Shit. Shit!”

“Ah, you remember everything! Splendid. How are you doing?” Viktor asked, seating himself on the end of the bench.

“I told everyone we were dating…” he groaned, letting his head drop into his hands.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Viktor said, playing with the string of his lanyard.

“We aren’t dating!” Yuuri exclaimed. He raised his head to meet Viktor’s gaze. “Viktor, everyone thinks we’re dating but we’re not! How is that a good thing?”

Viktor winced. “Um, Yuuri…”

“What?”

“You might want to be careful with who you say that around,” he huffed, gesturing behind Yuuri. He turned around slowly.

“...oops.” There, right behind him, was Minako, hands on her hips, looking extremely pissed off.

“Yuuri…” she growled. Yuuri flinched back, scrambling across the bench until his back hit something solid. Arms wrapped around him and a deep chuckle rumbled in the hard chest behind him.

“Don’t worry, Minako! It’ll be easy to fool the press,” Viktor said, breath hot against Yuuri’s cheek.

“I can’t believe this numbskull decided to start a fake relationship! There’s doing things for the publicity and then there’s  _ doing things for the publicity _ !” she scolded. Yuuri flushed, avoiding her harsh glare.

“I didn’t do it on purpose…” he mumbled. This didn’t do anything to mollify his teacher; if anything, it made things worse.

“What do you MEAN you didn’t do it on purpose?” she shrieked, throwing her hands up. “You didn’t know how to turn down an admirer- an  _ underage _ admirer, at that- and you just blurted out your coach’s name?”

“Well…”

“Minami is seventeen! All you had to do was tell him he was too young and this mess would have been averted!” she screeched. “Yuuri, you idiot!”

Viktor pulled him closer. “Minako, you’re being too harsh. He panicked, that’s all. Besides-” He paused to pull his phone out of his pocket and tapped at it for a few seconds,“-#viktuuri is trending on both Twitter AND Tumblr!”

Yuuri slumped over. Oh no. Oh no. Oh, this was bad.

Minako stared at the phone shoved in her face, eyes scanning the screen. She stayed like that, occasionally scrolling down, as time ticked by. A grin spread across her lips all the while.

“All right, treat him well, Viktor. Figure this out, you two,” she said. “I gotta go.”

She flounced out of the room, leaving a blushing Yuuri in the arms of Viktor. He smiled down at the flustered man in his embrace.

“So Yuuri, why was my name the first one that came to mind?” he said quietly. Yuuri hunched over even more, unintentionally pressing his back further into Viktor’s chest. After a few minutes of silence, Viktor raised a hand and began combing his fingers through his gelled black hair.

“You need to use a different hair product, you know. There are way too many flyaways left untamed with this one,” he mumurmed. Yuuri snorted.

“You were the one who recommended this one,” he huffed. “It’s not my fault it doesn’t work for my hair.”

“Nothing really works for your hair, does it?” Viktor said with a chuckle. His fingers gently pulling through Yuuri’s hair calmed him. He relaxed into Viktor’s embrace, coming out of his embarrassed hunch. He let his eyes drift closed, leaning back into Viktor. He was almost asleep when Viktor’s voice broke the quiet again, pausing in his soft caresses.

“We can stage a breakup, if you’re uncomfortable with a fake relationship.” Yuuri stiffened.

“N-no, it’s all right…”

“Are you sure?” he asked. Yuuri nodded. “The press is going to be very pushy. You’ll be under a lot of scrutiny.”

“It’s just two people dating…” he muttered.

“Two  _ men _ dating. Both from very conservative cultures. It’ll be easy to convince people of the relationship, but are you ready for the backlash?” Viktor asked. His voice was tinged with sadness. Yuuri turned, twisting in his arms to better look at Viktor.

His eyes were downcast, his usual beaming smile absent. 

“Viktor, are  _ you _ okay with this?” Yuuri asked. He’d never seen his coach genuinely upset before.

“I’m okay with whatever you’re okay with,” Viktor said, shooting him a small smile. Yuuri caught a small glimmer in his eyes.

He turned fully around, crossing his legs in Viktor’s lap  and pulling him into a hug. He propped his chin on his shoulder.

“Viktor, the reason your name jumped into my head…” he began. “I completely blanked on everyone. I couldn’t remember anyone that I’d ever met. But I thought… who would I actually want to be in a relationship with?” He paused, feeling wet drops fall onto his shoulder. Quiet sniffs echoed around the empty room, small sounds in a vast silence. “And um...I blurted out your name.”

Viktor’s arms tightened around him, pulling him close.

“Yuuri…”

“If, um… if you want to stage a breakup, we can, but… for me, this relationship wouldn’t be fake.”

“Yuuri…” Viktor breathed. He started shaking. For a moment, Yuuri was worried that his tears had turned into full sobs, but when Viktor raised his head, Yuuri smiled. 

Viktor was laughing, relieved peals of joy echoing around them. 

“It won’t be fake for me either, Yuuri,” he promised once he had calmed down enough to form words.

And the bond realized in that locker room was strong enough to last through all the backlash, all the hatred, all the troubles thrown their way.

**Author's Note:**

> viktor actually showed minako a note about how he loves yuuri and yeah
> 
> come scream with me on [tumblr](http://thehibiscusthief.tumblr.com)


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